


Office Mates (For Life)

by SQDrabbles



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Office, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-20
Updated: 2019-09-20
Packaged: 2020-10-09 04:22:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,495
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20495243
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SQDrabbles/pseuds/SQDrabbles
Summary: Regina's new job working with her mom: 50% anxietynew co-worker walking into the office: 50% anxietyOffice shenanigans with the new co-worker: 100% SwanQueenOffice AU





	Office Mates (For Life)

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Office Mates (for life) [Fanart]](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20475161) by [Starrrynighhts](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Starrrynighhts/pseuds/Starrrynighhts). 

> Compared to last year, I'm blessed with 2 betas and an artist that matched with me from the beginning this year.  
Thank you Ivy and SoundslikeHope for taking on my fic and making sure it made sense, you have no idea how relieved I felt knowing I had you guys checking up on my story.  
Thank you Iris for picking my fic, and making an AMAZING cover for it (and being patient with all my nitpicking throughout the process lol).  
These three are the reason I made sure to finish this story, I hope they enjoyed reading it and where it ended up. <3
> 
> Kudos to SQSN for hosting this again, love all the new SwanQueen stories coming out!

First day at work, and she is bored out of her mind. Boredom – that is what she tells herself, not wanting to admit that what she actually feels is nervousness, something akin to having a panic attack. She focuses on her computer screen, her email displaying no new messages. She wonders if she is supposed to be tip tapping on the keyboard while her boss is in the other room. Granted, her boss is her mother, but Cora always knew when she was pretending to be working and when she was actually busy. Regardless, she could never tell when her daughter was feeling anxious, nor would she have eased up on her.

It is only when the office door swings open that she looks up. Finally, someone to interact with, a chance to show her mother that she’s up to par with her job expectations. A face peeked in, and – _oh_. A very beautiful face. It doesn’t strike Regina instantly as to why she finds the woman’s face alluring – just that when the woman smiles hesitantly at her, it softens her features, and Regina feels her anxiety ebb away. She does not recall ever seeing a smile as soft and real as the one of the woman standing in front of her, face shrouded by blonde curls. Practically the poster child a company would want displayed on their building.

“Hi,” the blonde starts, smiling as she holds the door open. Behind the woman, Regina can see the other staff walking across to scan papers, glancing curiously at them. From her father’s chats, Cora doesn’t usually get staff visiting her area of the office unless they’re being sacked, and it seems too early in the morning for that sort of thing. Unless her mother tends to start her day with firing people? It doesn’t seem that unlikely.

“Hello…”

“Just dropping by. It’s my first day at work. I’m Emma,” she explains, still standing at the door seemingly unsure whether she should step in or leave. The name rings a bell. Cora briefly mentioned at the beginning of the day that a student of hers was joining their company as well, and Regina remembers to smile as she motions the woman in.

“Hello, welcome. Cora is not in right now, but I can tell her you passed by.”

“Okay, thanks. It’s my first day here.” She laughs, letting go of the door and stepping into the office. “Oh, wait, I said that already, sorry. So, where is the best place to get tacos here?” Emma takes a seat across from Regina’s desk, and Regina smiles at the question - she wouldn’t ever dare to eat one at work.

“It’s my first day here too, but I know the area quite well. You could find one across the street, but I wouldn’t be able to recommend anything, as I do not eat tacos.”

“Seriously!? Oh well then, Archie, I guess one time we need to get you to try some.”

“Archie?”

“Your name plate at the door.” Emma points to the wall, and Regina chuckles.

“Ah yes, they didn’t get the chance to change the names yet. It’s Regina Mills.”

“So we’re starting together. Cool! Anyway, I should head back to my office. Can’t seem flaky on the first day of work.”

“Alright, nice to meet you Emma.”

“Same to you Mills. See ya.” Emma reaches the door but then backtracks. “Mills! So you’re Cora’s daughter?”

“Yes. I’m assuming you’re the student she mentioned.”

“Yeah. But that was years ago. We just reconnected.”

Regina nods at that, waiting for the blonde to leave. Emma looks like she wants to add something more, then shakes her head and continues on her way.

Besides a random wanderer into her office looking for the restroom, that was the only interaction she’s had at work. By the end of the day, as she punches out and walks to her car, she feels relieved at having the day over without any blunders, and she passes by the café to get her son their favorite ice-cream to celebrate.

***

The next day she finds a wrapped item on her desk with a smiley drawn on a yellow sticky note. Chuckling once she unwraps it to find a taco inside, she scrolls down the company phone and finds Emma’s extension number, waiting awhile as the blonde picks it up.

“…Hello?”

“I’m assuming you’re the one who left me a taco?”

“Oh! It’s you. Yeah, it would be a shame if you didn’t try one. Or you can feed it to the boss.”

“ ‘You’? Who were you expecting?” She frowns at the thought of giving Cora a taco, her eyes glancing to the taco as though it could spring up on her. “And have her fire me? I think I’ll keep it in the drawer.”

“Suit yourself, though my advice would be don’t keep it too long in there or the office will stink up.

This is weird, I’m not used to talking on the phone much, tend to avoid it. Hey, later when I visit you, can you show me how you found my extension? I’ve been getting phone calls from other departments and have no clue how to call them back.”

“Of course. See you then,” she replies, as though having a colleague over is as easy as that, when it used to take her months to talk up her coworkers at previous jobs. She tries not to smile too much once Emma does drop by, wondering how someone can be such a klutz around a phone. (They had to apologize profusely to the manager they called by mistake, thanks to the tricks Emma was trying to show her.)

*** 

Regina can recollect the company’s history from the many times her parents told her over the years. When Regina’s grandfather first bought the plot, it was a one-story building. As Cora took control of the company, she turned it into a multi-complex, allowing her husband to add some greenery around the offices as part of the agreement. So while some areas were the regular standard bleak offices, other sections had some life to them with the indoor gardens and birds flying in between the trees. The way her mother tells the story makes it seem as though the concession was a huge favor, a large sacrifice on her part. Regina’s father, on the other hand, never complained about the way his wife was handling his company, despite the business being on his side of the family.

Regina was assigned to the office next to her mother’s – a fancier section, but quiet, and without the gardens. Her father mentioned to her to check out the other sections, recollecting his favorite moments of when he used to work there, and she’s taken to strolling around the building when there is nothing to do in the office. Cora doesn’t mind – or doesn’t seem to notice. Regina can never tell. But as soon as the woman closes her office door for a meeting or a conference call, Regina steps outside, taking her break at one of the secluded gardens inside the building. It is on one of those strolls that she wonders where Emma’s office is located.

“Is Emma in the same building?” Regina asks Cora, when the woman mentions her during one of their meetings. Apparently, the blonde oversees one of the departments under Cora. The job was briefly offered to Regina - but, knowing it would have her dealing with people she could not tolerate, she shifted to the job she has now, following up with emails regarding projects internally. She knew her mother didn’t approve, as she wanted Regina to be up in the front with the customers, in preparation for leading the company later on. Surprisingly she did not argue on this subject and allowed Regina to stay out of the public sphere, under the condition that she does work for her.

“It’s next to external affairs, that room with the awful smell in it. I told your father to have it fixed but of course he cannot even do the simplest things.” Regina ignores the comment about her father, knowing he does have the tendency to avoid confrontations, and stays mindful of Emma’s office as they carry on the meeting, smiling politely as she marks down the minutes to when it ends.

On her next break, she walks down to the corridor her mother mentioned, stepping into an office with two desks filled to the brim with paperwork. A musky smell affronts her senses as soon as she enters the room. A woman with dark red streaks in her hair sits at one of the desks, the chair behind her filled with files as well.

“Oh, hi. Is Emma… is this Emma’s office?” she asks the girl; who looks up from painting her nails. She seems unbothered by the fact that the room is a mess. 

“Ah, she’s not in,” she replies and goes back to painting her nails. She barely gives Regina another glance, and after waiting a few more moments with the blonde nowhere in sight, Regina heads back to her office. Her mother would have ordered the woman to call the blonde in, but Regina is hyperaware of the way the woman seems annoyed, and felt her anxiety rising at the thought of being a hindrance just in her first month at the job.

She tries again another day, finding another yellow sticky note on her desk from Emma, with “hello from the other side :)” written on it. Taking a stroll around, this time she finds two girls sitting inside of Emma’s office against the floor. They’re whispering too close to each other, seemingly caught in the moment as one brushes her lips against the other. Regina freezes, afraid she is interrupting something, and quietly backtracks out of there.

When Emma drops by her office the week after, Regina mentions that she’s tried finding her office.

“Oh yeah, that’s Ruby. Did you need something from me?”

“I just wanted to pass by for a quick visit. To say hi. Since you do it all the time.” _Just. Stop. Talking._

Emma laughs, that cute toothy smile of hers showing when her eyes light up. She tells Regina she’ll be expecting her. It has Regina smiling as well, forgetting her embarrassment.

The next time she drops by Emma’s office, she does find her there, leaning against the window, playing with a cat. The company’s gardens are always filled with stray cats, either dropped there by people who couldn’t keep them or wandered in by themselves. They keep to themselves for the most part – Regina resists petting them, knowing how her mother hates them. But she sees them about, and they’re usually not as playful as the one currently in Emma’s office, meowing at the blonde’s hand.

“Hello,” she says across the open window. Emma looks up, smiling as she spots her.

“Hey! You made it.”

“Yes, finally. I was starting to doubt that you even show up to work,” Regina muses, glancing at the office behind the blonde. It was still a mess, but some folders were open, seemingly being organized into groups. “How is it going?”

“Slow. A lot of the information regarding the clients is all jumbled up or missing. We’re trying to start a database on what we have, but…” She sighs, her fingers absentmindedly playing with the cat. Regina frowns at the comment. Based on what she knew, Emma’s department did exist before, and had clients for the past several years.

“Was there not one existing before?”

Emma snorts. “Based on what’s showing on the office drive, it’s crap. The list on there is a mess, with either missing or inaccurate information. Even the folders out here hold nothing that can help. Just random outlines and meeting minutes that don’t make sense.”

The cat meows and takes a swipe at Emma’s hand, and the blonde hisses, swearing as she still gently lowers the cat back onto the ground. “Damn it.”

“Did he scratch you?”

“It’s a she, and yeah, but it’s fine.”

“I have band-aids, one minute.” Rummaging through her purse, she takes out the container and forgets which kind it is until Emma lets out a chuckle.

“Oh God, of course you’d carry cute ones. Those are some sweet band-aids.” Regina feels her cheeks turning red, but still places the unicorn band-aid on Emma’s finger, wrapping it gently. 

“Henry likes them, that or dragons.” She explains.

“Henry? Is that your boyfriend?” Emma asks, then smiles sheepishly. “I don’t mean to pry, I mean –”

“It’s okay. Henry is my son. He is ten, and much better at dealing with scratches, apparently,” Regina comments as Emma keeps pouting at her wrapped finger.

“Hey! I’ve been mauled, okay! I won’t be able to type.” She waves her finger at Regina’s face, and Regina laughs.

“Why, yes, of course. Still, I think you’ll survive,” Regina teasingly dismisses Emma, and walks back towards her office, chuckling to herself.

Emma finds a reason to drop by Regina’s office later that afternoon, showing her what seem like small cuts on her fingers, asking for another band-aid. Regina huffs when the blonde won’t put it on herself but smiles as she wraps it around the blonde’s finger, commenting that in the future there will be a quota on how many band-aids she can use in a day. The blonde leaves her a sticky note, “Thanks for the band-aid, Unicorn Queen” with an apple on her desk later, making Regina smile at being treated as a teacher.

The next time Regina passes by Emma’s office, the window is open once again, and she chats with Emma through it. Midway through the chat, the blonde smiles and tells Regina she can just step inside the office. Regina promises to do so the next time. She leaves a sticky note on Emma’s door this time, “Don’t forget to save your drafts”, remembering how the blonde was swearing out loud at documents missing.

As the weekend approaches, Regina still can’t seem to find something to enjoy at work. Her desk starts to fill with sticky notes from Emma, which she organizes and keeps in her desk, but other than that, the week is passing so slowly, and all her projects are on hold, pending replies from other departments. The emails she’s copied in are all addressing her mother about some project they have overseas, and she can’t be bothered as to why it takes this many emails to get approval for something to be transferred. She is tempted to pass by the other offices to check-in, but her mother has already told her she’s had complaints about her drop-ins, so she has stopped doing that – for now. Grabbing her purse, she heads off to the café they supposedly have within the building and wonders if Emma is in today.

Her mood brightens as she finds Emma’s office lights on when she rounds the corner.

“Her majesty has arrived!” She can hear Emma yelling as she steps into the office, behind the usual paperwork. Rolling her eyes – the blonde can be so dramatic – she checks her phone to see that she still has time to lounge about before her mother checks in on her.

“I just came by to say hello,” she explains, finding not only Emma but Ruby this time as well. She can spot both their heads over the pile of papers, and Regina wonders how it hasn’t toppled over yet at the angle it stands.

“Or to check to make sure we’re here. Tell the big boss we’re not ditching,” Emma huffs, but winks at Regina to show she is joking. Ruby’s face is glued to her phone, and she barely looks up when Regina enters. Regina sidesteps around the desk to come stand in front of the blonde, lifting the paper bag in her hand.

“Muffin?” She offers. She knows Emma finds them the least offending item in the cafeteria and she unconsciously grabbed one on the go when she passed by the café. The beaming smile the blonde gives her makes up for the internal debate she had about actually giving the muffin and she shakes her head at the way the blonde pounces on the offered pastry. 

“Ohmygod. You’re my hero. I was just telling Ruby I was dying.”

“Of starvation. I told her there’s fruit in the mini-fridge,” Ruby comments, eyes still glued to her phone as she scrolls down her screen.

“Fruit doesn’t count. I need real calories,” Emma comments in between bites. She lets out a groan mid-bite, and Regina’s eyes widen at the sound. She clears her throat and makes up an excuse about needing to be back at the office. It is only later at home as she prepares for bed that she wonders why she felt embarrassed, but reasons it off as just an awkward moment.

September rolls into November, and mid-week, Henry catches a cold. She requests to work from home and finds herself glued to her home office when she isn’t taking care of Henry. It is the first time that Emma WhatsApp’s her, asking about her whereabouts. Regina is touched and teases the blonde, asking if she will be able to survive working without her. As she’s waiting for a reply back from the blonde, she spots a flyer popping up on her desktop. She glances at the flyer, a section highlighted in the bottom of the page about requiring additional people to play against the clients. Well, she didn’t realize the company had office games. She pauses scrolling down when she sees the list of possible players with Emma’s name amongst them, the only woman on the list.

“Are you taking part in the soccer match?” Regina texts the blonde.

“Yeah. I like playing soccer. Aren’t you signing up?” Emma replies. Regina recalls mentioning that she used to play, but she didn’t expect Emma to remember that conversation.

“Don’t you want to sign up? It looks cool!” Henry says from besides her. She jumps, expecting him to have caught her texting Emma, but realizes he is staring at the flyer on the computer screen.

“I don’t know. It seems none of my co-workers signed up.” And it is ridiculous to have that as the excuse, but she hasn’t explained to her son yet about her anxiety, and how a crowd watching her could trigger it.

“But if you do, then you get to play! That would be super cool!” he continues. She can practically see the stars in Henry’s eyes at the idea of her playing, and she does not have the heart to say no to that. She sends a reply for them to count her in and takes Henry to the kitchen for a light snack before bed. 

***

The first thing she sees when she is back in the office is a sticky note with Emma’s familiar writing, “Missed you at the office” stuck to her computer screen. She finds herself smiling to herself as she drops her bags and heads over to say hello to the blonde, and to discuss tactics for today’s game.

She finds Ruby instead, and surprisingly the woman smiles at her as she looks up and sees her. “Hey, Mills. You’re back. Its been quiet without you.”

“Really? I thought no one would notice.” She attempts to joke, but embarrassed to find that her voice betrays some truth to that fear.

“Are you kidding me? Emma wouldn’t stop moaning about how the office is bleak. She probably would’ve called your house phone if she knew the number.” Ruby jokes, and it’s the first time Regina hears more than two words from her.

“I’m grateful then that I wasn’t spammed.” They smile to each other, before Emma comes tackling in, hugging Regina from the back.

“Woman, finally! You’re back! You aren’t allowed ever to take a break while we are still here.” The blonde growls, and Ruby just huffs as she smacks her head with the papers in her hand.

“Leave the woman alone and focus on the game today.” Ruby tells Emma, as she tugs Regina to the chairs and goes over the updates, and Regina wonders if this is how it would’ve been if she had friends in high school.

***

She knew she wasn’t playing her best. She kept missing the easy kicks and barely stole the ball from the opposing team. She tries to focus, she does, but from the sides she can see the other staff sitting on the bleachers, watching, and that’s all she can focus on. She knows it’s distracting her, but she hasn’t found a way to successfully zone them out.

The referee whistles for a timeout, and she gets pulled out. Emma gives her an encouraging smile and claps for her as she walks off the field and Ruby calls out cheers for her. Anyone else, she would have rained numerous snide comments on them to shut them up. But with Emma and Ruby, she knows that the women were not mocking her. Emma runs up to her, high fiving as they switch places. The blonde runs into the field, work colleagues hooting and shouting as they spot her take her position as mid-fielder. Regina wonders when Emma has had the time to socialize or play with their colleagues outside of work, to raise such camaraderie. Though they both started at the same time in the company, Regina notices that Emma has already gained a few friends from different departments.

The referee whistles again, and the second half of the game starts. The ball flies next to Emma, and she runs towards the goal. Regina feels the urge to yell encouragements at her but is stifled by the people surrounding her. Emma only runs for a few seconds before she tumbles down, the soccer ball rolling past her for the opposing team to easily swoop in and steal it. Regina blinks, wondering if she’s imagining it. But no – there is Emma on the ground, another player pulling her up as she grins and hops over to follow the rest of the game. A small setback.

But the blonde does fall over again, this time with no player next to her or pushing her over. She quickly gets up and laughs, continues running after the ball. Regina starts to realize how much of a klutz the woman is, as throughout the fifteen-minute stretch, Emma topples over at least two more times. But it doesn’t seem that the blonde cares, as she keeps playing on, unbothered by the crowd or the teasing she receives from the other players about her leg work. Regina is surprised at how the woman can continue with all her falls, and she finds herself shouting out loud, rooting for her. Once, Emma glances over to her when she hears her name, only to be sideswiped by the opposing player. At that Regina starts to scream louder, this time criticizing Emma to focus.

They lose terribly to the clients, but end the game still on good energy. Emma walks off the field, panting triumphantly as she high fives Regina, who feels shy at first but then follows Emma towards the other players for a group photo. She waits for a few moments after the group photo, lounging in the back, waiting for Emma to finish chatting with the other players, Ruby already packed up and went home. She cannot wait to talk about the game with the blonde, especially to tease her for her numerous tumbles. The back of Emma’s shirt is drenched with sweat, the little hair that has escaped from her ponytail sticks to her face as she drinks from her water bottle, laughing breathlessly at something the other player told her.

Standing behind the blonde, Regina starts to feel how awkward it is to just be waiting there, without anyone to talk to. She can feel the anxiety rising, at what people would whisper looking at her standing alone in the middle of a packed field. She picks up her bag and starts walking back to her office, wondering if it’s worth it to wait until she can shower at home or if she should take a chance at the company’s shower stalls. At least it’s the end of the day, and she won’t have to stay sweaty in the office.

“Hey, wait up!” She hears Emma behind her and slows down. Turning around, she waits as Emma jogs up to her, barely catching her breath.

“How do you still have the energy to run?” Regina raises an eyebrow, willing herself to stop staring at Emma’s legs in shorts. During the game, she was too focused on how many times the woman tumbled over her own feet to realize they’re very… lean – or is the right word ‘muscular’? Lean, that is what she will go with, that is all she will focus on. She will not focus on why she feels this desire to keep staring at the blonde’s toned legs, to know what it feels like to touch them, or to sit on them, or how would it feel under her hand as they flex.

“That was a simple game.”

“Oh?” Clearing her throat, she avoids Emma’s gaze, willing her thoughts to stay on track.

“Yeah, we play on the weekends. Some of the staff here join me and Rubes out for a match or two. You should come sometime.” Emma offers, walking alongside her.

“Thank you. I will keep it in mind.”

“You can bring Henry too! Well, I’m parked here, see ya tomorrow.” She waves and starts to walk off. Staring at Emma’s retreating figure, Regina suddenly has a strong urge to reach out to the blonde.

“Emma! … Good game today,” she calls out and is rewarded with another trademark smile of Emma’s, one that has Regina feeling tingles of excitement coursing through her. 

“You too, Gina. See you.” 

Gina?! What the – that nickname was something only her sister called her, nowhere close to ever being used at work. But it didn’t seem that annoying when Emma said it, and she feels warmth spread within her at the thought. What if –

_No._ Emma is just a colleague. This is just a rush from joining and being part of the crowd for once, nothing else. 

***

The next morning is hell. She can barely get out of bed. Her body is sore all over. Granted, it has been awhile since she played soccer, but she did not expect to be out of shape to that extent. Oh god, her legs are killing her. She didn’t even run that much. Henry, her blessed son, massages her legs while she’s still in bed and jokingly offers to drive her to work. She smiles at that, and after a shower she feels the pain only somewhat lessening. If she’s like this, she wonders how Emma is handling the post-soccer match.

She finds no sticky yellow note on her desk today, which probably means the blonde wasn’t in yet. She settles and catches up on her emails. It is only during lunch break that she heads over to the blonde’s office. She can hear the woman groaning and finds the blonde on the office floor, one hand covering her eyes as the other is pressed to her stomach.

“I’m dying,” is the first thing that Emma announces at her arrival. Eyes widening, Regina quickly looks over the blonde, looking for the gush of blood that is surely flowing out of her. Finding nothing, she kneels down and cups the blonde’s cheeks, studying her face for any sign of pain.

“What? Where is it hurting? What happened?”

“I think I’m dying. There’s something wrong with my body.” The blonde groans, shuffling closer to Regina.

“There’s nothing wrong. You’re just in pain from tumbling so much yesterday,” Ruby comments from her .desk, unfazed by the blonde on the ground. She glances to Regina, disinterested as she explains with a sigh, “She does this every time. Coming in with a new symptom indicating that she’s dying every day of the week. Last week, she kept swearing she was having a stroke when her arm went numb for a second.”

Emma sticks out her tongue at Ruby, and Regina feels silly to worry about the blonde. Straightening up, she lets go of Emma’s face. Still, Emma doesn’t move, groaning how she has only a few days left. Her diagnosis takes a turn for the better only when Regina offers to get her some bearclaws. She becomes one happy patient after that.

***

“You just pass by the office to spy on me, to make sure we’re attending to let Big Boss know,” Emma teases her one day with a smirk, as they sit in her office. Ruby and the blonde finally cleared out most of the documents that were on the chairs, and now they’re able to sit properly at their desks.

“I do not! I’m no one’s spy. I just like passing by and saying hello,” Regina huffs, folding the magazine to smack it against Emma’s arm. She knows the blonde was teasing, but she hopes that is all it was; she truly does not want them to think of her as a watchdog.

“We’re your favorite office!” Emma calls out in return in a very smug voice. Regina only answers with a “no” as she leaves their office, still able to overhear Emma whining for her to admit it. She makes it just in time to her desk, Cora leaving her office the moment Regina sits in her seat.

“Ah, Regina. Make sure to prepare the agenda for the meeting with PR & Marketing.”

“Of course.” Regina turns on her computer, glad that she had the agenda prepared from the morning. Usually she would need to organize her emails first, but since she started working in this company, she realized if she saved each email under the folder related to the topic discussed, it makes it easier to bring it up when Cora mentions it to her. She’s become adept at bringing back old emails when her mo— her boss, randomly asks about one of the ongoing projects. As she scans through her email for any new items brought up in the last hour, she blinks as she sees two emails flagged for her mother’s attention. Clicking them open, she finds only jumbled numbers and a website to track some sort of link to a parcel.

“Mother, there is two emails that seem like spam, did you open them? Should I have IT come check on your account security?” she asks Cora, who hums for her to go ahead before pausing.

“Which two emails?”

“The flagged ones.”

A cloud passes over her mother’s face before she smiles. Regina feels uneased by it.

“No, no, that is alright. Shouldn’t you be focusing on the meeting we have in a few minutes instead of the email correspondence?”

“Of course, Mother.” She feels silly for disrupting her mother over spam emails, and just deletes them from her inbox before scanning through the remaining emails for any items needing to be added to the agenda.

***

Emma, 8:25am. “If you were stuck in an elevator, would you rather have Ruby or Cora there?”

Regina, 8:26am. “Cora, of course. I would strangle Ruby by the second hour.”

Emma, 8:40am. “Would you rather be tickled for one hour straight or be kissed by Grumpy for one hour straight?”

Regina, 8:41am. “Is there a third option?”

Emma, 9:32am. “If you had to pee in front of someone, who would you pee in front of?”

Regina, 9:33am. “What even is this question?!”

Regina, 9:34am. “Probably in front of you, since I know you would be busy groaning about some sort of sickness to even pay attention to what I am doing.”

Emma, 10:00am. “You are stuck on an island. You can take only one item with you. What would you take?”

Regina, 10:02am. “I would take your phone away, so you would stop asking me these questions.”

Regina, 11:40am. “Coffee?”

Emma, 11:45am. “Sure. Question: if a dragonfly loses its wings, is it just a fly?”

Regina, 11:46am. “I think it would just be a dead dragonfly.”

“What is with all these questions?” Regina places the coffee cup on Emma’s desk, taking a sip of her own drink. She was not a coffee person at all, but since starting at the company, she’s found herself drinking it daily, if it’s iced coffee. Emma keeps mocking her for drinking her coffee with milk, but she finds the taste disgusting without it.

“Just wondering. Your answers are so fun to read,” Emma replies as she pops out her vape from her drawer. The blonde and her coworker are amongst the many who have slipped into the trend of the new smoke. Regina has long given up on lecturing the blonde about vaping, as the blonde kept arguing that vaping does not count as smoking. Since their office is old and already stank, no one notices when Ruby and Emma are smoking inside the office, and Regina has decided on not reporting it. She even secretly enjoys watching Emma vape, as she seems more relaxed when she does so. There’s a certain allure to watching the vape stick slip between the woman’s lips. As the blonde takes another puff of her vape, Regina chuckles.

“What’s so funny?”

“Puff the dragon…” Regina replies. It’s a cartoon show that Henry watches on TV about a dragon, and Regina can’t help but to see the similarity between the way the smoke comes out of Emma’s mouth and that of the dragon. A flash of recognition crosses Emma’s eyes, and she can’t help but chuckle as well, puffing up another vape of smoke out of her mouth, comically looking like the dragon when he blows off steam.

“Speaking of, do you watch any TV shows?” Regina asks the blonde, rolling her eyes when the Emma coughs as she tries to answer while vaping.

“Not really. And no, before you ask, I’ve never watched SwanQueen.” Regina blushes, not realizing her addiction to the show is known in the office.

“It is a good show to watch. Never mind the plot holes, you really should watch it for the actresses.” She argues back, defending the show.

“Because they’re gay for each other?” Emma guesses, twirling her vape stick around.

“No, they’re not!”

“If you say so.”

***

They get a new addition to the office, a woman by the name of Mary Margaret. Emma finds her annoying and doesn’t like it when the girl starts visiting her office with Regina. Never mind Regina constantly explaining to the blonde that she’s just showing the woman around since it’s her first week at the company. Never mind Regina’s cheeks turning red when Emma claims that Regina is hers and she won’t share her with new people, and that Regina is the only one who gets to visit the blonde’s office. Ruby just ignores Emma’s dramatic moodiness and surprisingly gets along well with the new girl.

By Mary Margaret’s second week, Emma finally stops hugging Regina possessively, letting the woman enter their office in peace. She even lets Regina speak to the woman without rolling her eyes. Mary Margaret takes in stride – or doesn’t notice. She is able to get Ruby out of her phone, even getting her to laugh – a first time for Regina to hear it.

“I can guess which car is yours. I have a pretty good memory,” Ruby gloats to Mary Margaret one day, a month into the girl’s start in the company. Emma has toned down her possessive side a bit, but she still gets grumpy when the new girl asks Regina for help.

“Really? Tell me,” Mary Margaret squeals, and Ruby taps her fingers against her cheek as though contemplating it.

“Is the license plate… 890234-D98?”

“…Yes! Oh my gosh how did you know?”

“I’m that good.” Ruby grins while Emma rolls her eyes across to Regina.

“Well I’m sure you won’t know mine,” Regina offers. She’s confident that the woman has never parked in the same area as she does. 

“Hmm. Is it a BMW X6?” Ruby hazards a guess.

“Yes –” Regina starts, but gets interrupted by the blonde as she also replies, “No, that’s mine.”

Both Emma and Regina look up from their papers at each other, raised brows.

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Regina can’t believe it.

“Oh wow, so first you stalk my office, now you stalk my car?” Emma huffs, throwing the papers on the desk to glare at Regina.

“Excuse me, I’ve had this car for a decade! You’re the one copying me!” Regina argues, and she feels Ruby guffawing in the corner, knowing the woman must be expecting her to whip out her car registration papers as legitimate proof.

After ten minutes, Ruby and Mary Margaret get bored from Emma and Regina’s nonstop bickering and leave the office for the two of them to sort it out. And indeed, as Regina punches out after work, she spots the bright yellow copy of her car parked next to her sleek black one.

“Mine is prettier,” she mutters under her breath, head down as she searches her car keys in her purse.

“Oh my god. You’re so annoying,” Emma grumbles as she walks past her to her own car.

***

Emma takes her for a ride in her car. Not something that happens usually – the blonde wouldn’t even trust anyone to drive her car. But she came in late, as Henry slept in and missed his bus, so she had to drop him to school then make her way to work. And since she did not want special treatment at the office, she didn’t have her own parking, and the usual spot she parks in was taken when she arrived. In the morning, that was fine, but now with work done, she was tired and the heat outside seemed unbearable to walk in. Emma noticed her stalling and offered to drop her. Regina found her somewhat adorable in that moment. Just for a moment. 

“I can’t believe how many water bottles you have in here,” Regina mutters, already picking up a few to throw away.

“It’s nothing woman, stop touching and organizing those,” Emma groans, eyes on the street as she reverses.

“Seriously, what is this even stuffed with –” She reaches for the side cabinet, and finds Emma suddenly leaning over, shoving it closed again.

“You don’t need to open that,” the blonde says with a forced smile on her face, the teasing tone gone.

“Sorry. I was only teasing. I didn’t mean to pry,” Regina murmurs, her hand moving back to lay across her stomach, a habit she has when she is nervous. Emma’s eyes move back to focus on driving, and they stay in awkward silence until Emma reaches her car. Regina gets out of the car and leaves with a quiet goodbye, embarrassment turning her cheeks red as she wonders if she was imagining Emma’s reaction. 

Things between them remains quiet for only the first half of the morning the next day, then Emma drops by with a sheepish smile and two coffee mugs in hand. Regina lets it go, as she can’t seem to get herself mad at the blonde over anything. They chat about work and the soccer game last night, and avoid bringing up anything related to the car ride. Only Emma leaves her a yellow sticky note on her chair at the end of the work day, with “Sorry” written on it.

***

She’s taken to staying late at work to attend meetings with Cora. Her mother started inviting her to the meetings that include the higher-up staff, and she agreed to do it only once a week, as she can’t take more off from her time with Henry. Emma also starts to stay late at work, trying to sort out the client database. Apparently, there was a lot of fake contact information filled in - probably the previous staff trying to fill in the quota. She starts to look more haggard at the long hours yet is stubborn and won’t take her coworker’s advice to leave on time. It is on one of those nights that Emma stays overtime and looks more pissed than plain tired. But seeing as Regina was already late to her meeting, she promised herself to check on the blonde later on during the break.

She did not think she would still find her there, but Emma’s lamp desk is on when she passes by her office, and Emma herself is hunched over her keyboard, squinting at the computer screen.

“What are you still doing here?” Regina asks as she leans against the door, biting her lip. Emma tends to brush people off, but so far Regina hasn’t received the same treatment (apart from that car ride, but Regina chalks it up to embarrassing magazines probably hidden in the compartment). Still, the blonde looks agitated enough, even desperate, and she wonders how to ask the blonde if she needs help without being too obvious that she’s offering it.

“Cora wanted these numbers in. Ruby botched up the sheet, and now I have to check them again,” the blonde replies without looking up from the screen, frowning at the mention of her coworker.

“How many numbers left?”

“….around a thousand.”

“A thousand?!” It was already 6.00pm. There was no way the blonde was going to finish before midnight.

“I finished some before, so it’s closing down to that.”

She forgoes the pretense of not offering help and drops her bag on the desk to settle down. “Let me help you.”

“Don’t you have your meeting?” Now Emma does look up, and Regina can see how strained she looks despite her normal tone of voice. She unwraps her scarf and takes a seat besides the blonde.

“I think I can skip one. Here—” Regina reaches out to take control over the mouse, but Emma dodges her hand, forcing a laugh.

“I can do this, honestly, Regina. You should go.”

And Regina remains. She watches while Emma works on the Excel sheet, slowly catching up on what the woman was doing. She shows Emma some of the Excel shortcuts, wondering why the blonde went on basic steps. She starts calling off the numbers one by one, and Emma grudgingly lets her do that while they move down the sheet. It’s painstakingly slow, but Emma starts to make silly comments about the clients as they go down the list, and Regina can’t help but groan at some of them, trying so hard not to show how funny she finds them. 

An hour later – Regina knows, as she’s been watching the time – Emma takes a break and Cora passes by, pausing at Emma’s office.

“I thought you left.” Her tone is light, but Regina can still feel the telltale chill at the back of her neck. From the way her mother glanced at her, Regina knows she will not find this simple to let go of.

“Ah. Well, I just came to check in on Emma. I should be leaving in a bit.”

“Please do. I would feel bad to take away so much of your time from Henry already. Make sure not to miss another meeting just to… check on Emma.” She gives a knowing look, and Regina blushes under it.

Thankfully Emma doesn’t notice, coming back from the restroom with a tired smile.

***

“Aaaaaaaaaand the list is done! Ohmygod, Regina. Seriously. You didn’t have to stay.” Emma laughs freely, hand swinging around Regina’s shoulder to pull her into a semi-hug.

“What are friends for? Now go _home_,” Regina cajoles, retrieving her bag. They walk to the parking lot together, Emma’s arm still wrapped around her shoulder, making it a comedic exit from the one side door. 

“Yeah, yeah, you too woman,” Emma huffs, but seems much more relaxed compared to when Regina found her at her desk. “Ugh. I don’t even know how she could’ve messed those numbers up. Thank God Cora told me they were missing.”

“You submitted it to my mother?”

“Yeah, this morning. But she brought it back and commented how some of the customers were missing so she edited their contact information.”

Regina didn’t realize her mother had such interest in Emma’s projects. Perhaps she should help out more, to have the paperwork done faster.

“Seriously, you need to move to my office,” Emma hums in Regina’s ear. “You’re practically already working there most days. Join our department.”

“I don’t think you can just create jobs like that on the go,” Regina muses, breath hitching at the way Emma is standing too close. She shrugs the blonde’s arm off her shoulder and heads to her car. “See you tomorrow, Swan.” 

***

“Mom, who is Emma?” Henry asks across the kitchen counter, in between bites of his sandwich. Regina has set up a game night, and is still trying to learn how to win at Mario Kart. For a break between games, she has allowed Henry to choose his own meal instead of the usual carrots and cucumber snack combination. 

“What?” she replies distractedly, trying to find the candy she promised Emma. Apparently, she is now to be the blonde’s provider of sweets if she wants safe passage to her office. Cora already commented asking why there are sounds of a crying seal outside her door. Regina found it very impressive that Emma can put so much effort in annoying her and still have time to work.

“You keep talking about her. Is she the only person at your work?” Henry asks with the curiosity of a child, and Regina pauses in her search, realizing what the question was. 

“Ah – no, just one of the ones I see the most.”

“Oh, okay.” And Henry goes back to eating his ice-cream. Regina contemplates if she should ask him why he would ask that, but she decides to keep it for another day as he runs back to the game console.

Emma, 7:50pm. “Did you find any sweets to bring tomorrow?”

Regina, 7:58pm. “No. I suppose I shouldn’t come in then, lest I be confronted by your seal persona again.”

Emma, 7:59pm. “Noooo. I’ll miss you then. :( ”

Emma, 9:05pm. “Seriously? You’re not going to come?”

Regina, 9:06pm. “I am. Go to sleep, Swan.”

Emma, 9:07pm. “Awesome sauce. Goodnight Gina.”

***

She doesn’t know when, but one time they had remaining stress balls lying around the office from a PR student, and Regina passed a ball to Emma, and Emma smoothly caught it and threw it back to her. They fell into a pattern of throwing a ball to each other whenever they pass by each other’s office. Keeping in mind not to aim too high (as they both had to pay to repair Cora’s broken plant vase), Regina finds it a simpler way to destress once the paperwork gets too much. And there is always something exciting about the competitive streak she and Emma have whenever they pass the time like this, trying to outdo each other with their throw. Mary Margaret tried to pass the ball to Emma once, but the blonde was disinterested in playing and would make faces to Regina when she is talking to Mary Margaret. She honestly can’t understand why Emma dislikes the woman so much, seeing as she gets along with everyone else in the company. Even clients would randomly pass by the office just to say hello to the blonde. The woman actually growled once when Mary Margaret hugged her a little longer than usual. Seriously, such a child at the office.

“Do you guys have any plans for the holiday?” Mary Margaret asks, and for the first time, the blonde looks up to face the woman.

“Seriously, we get days off too?” Emma asks, surprised.

“My mother realizes there’s no point in keeping hours if the customers won’t be checking in.” Despite it also being Regina’s first year in the office, she knows her mother always took days off around this time. The house would be filled with tense lunches and glimmers of disappearing hope that her mother would be interested in her activities. She’s learned to not have any expectations when her mother is at home.

“How many days do we get off?” Regina can see the sparkle of excitement in the blonde’s eyes at the thought of it. Even Ruby looks up from her magazine.

“Just Thursday and Friday. We still have to show up at the beginning of the week,” Regina hums.

“That’s still plenty of time.” Emma laughs manically, her laugh cut off when Regina aims the ball at her head this time.

***

During the holiday, she takes Henry to Disneyland. He has been so excited to go, has been talking about it for the past few years. But Regina has always been one to believe (after seeing others with their kids) that there is no point in taking a child to Disneyland if they can’t even remember it afterwards. So, seeing as Henry was eleven now, and still invested in Disney, she booked two tickets for the weekend and a free pass for all the rides. The fast track only worked on specific rides, and she wished she had brought a book to at least pass some of the time in the lines. In between those rides, as she’s waiting in line, she would scroll down Instagram and see Emma’s pictures of her trip, skiing down snowy mountains, face covered up to her nose with scarves, looking adorable face down in the middle of a snow pile.

“Mooom. Moooom. The line is moving.” Henry waves at her face, and she drops her phone, distracted by the picture Emma sent her. Without even thinking, she sends a picture of Henry back to Emma.

“Is that your kid??” Emma instantly texts back, and Regina wonders about the time difference between their areas, surprised the blonde was awake.

“Yes. His name is Henry.” She’s named him after her father, and she still remembers the tears as he smiled and held his grandson for the first time.

“Can’t believe you sent me. And of course, you’ve got him wearing a shirt of that stupid show you watch.”

“It’s not stupid, and he’s also a fan of it,” she texts back, a bit miffed that Emma kept making fun of the show. The only time the woman didn’t have a smart comment was when Regina showed her a picture she took with the main actress, posing with her arms around the woman.

“I need to get him out of your influence, woman,” Emma texts her back, and she huffs, preparing a smart comment back when Henry nudges her.

“Mom. The ride,” he whines, and she notices their turn is up next. She drops her phone back into her bag, a smile stuck on her face the rest of the day.

***

“Can’t believe your son doesn’t like me,” Emma grumbles over the phone, Regina rolling her eyes as she lathers the lotion down her leg. Henry went to sleep earlier than expected, tired from all the walking and the rides, leaving her to have some alone time. She found herself calling Emma instead of heading to the café downstairs and smiling as the blonde recollected what she did that day in her trip. Reaching her other leg, she cradles the phone against her ear, hoping she doesn’t press the Facetime button by mistake. She wouldn’t know how to face the blonde if she saw her in just her bathrobe.

“He doesn’t... not... like you,” she tries to reply feebly, unable to lie to the blonde.

“What did you tell him about me? I didn’t even do anything!”

She blushes. It’s not like she can outright say why Henry is tired of hearing about Emma already.

“It’s nothing,” she insists, hoping that would be the end of the subject.

“You can’t just say he’s annoyed at me and then say it’s nothing. Ugh Ginaaaaaaaaaa,” Emma whines, and Regina wonders if she can get away with closing the phone on the blonde or if that would make her sulk until the holiday ends.

“Let me talk to him,” Emma suggests, voice back to normal.

“He’s asleep,” Regina replies, glancing to the other room. Rooms connected, she can see his form on his bed, under the covers.

“Oh. What time is it there?” Emma whispers back, as though Henry could hear her. She smiles at how adorable Emma is.

“Just past 9pm. I finally can relax and read a book,” she replies, placing the lotion next to her bed and pulling the covers over herself. Reaching for the book, she changes her mind and closes the light, feeling drowsiness taking over her.

“Oh?” A pause, then Emma continues, her voice sounding strange. “Are you in bed?”

“Yes.” A yawn escapes her, and she asks, “What time is it there?”

“We just came back in, I kind of sprained my leg falling over while skiing,” Emma explains nonchalantly. All the drowsiness leaves Regina, and she feels herself wide awake.

“Emma!” Regina admonishes, and lies down on her side, listening to Emma as she explains how she fell, imagining the blonde next to her as she laughs at her own slipups. She checks her email then, frowning as to why she keeps getting spam email addressed only to her mother with her copied on it, with random numbers and links. She archives them under one folder, planning to approach the IT department after the holidays to show them all the spam emails and have them figure out how to block them.

***

Ruby comes back with a tan, Emma with her leg bandaged, and Regina with Disney souvenirs. They both coo like children, excited at their Disney toys. Regina startles from her seat as Emma and Ruby start whooping at the next song playing on the radio. “I love this! Come on!”

They start dancing around the room, Regina laughing at the two of them. “Oh no, no. I don’t dance,” she says, waving off Emma’s hand as she tries to get her to stand up. Emma starts shaking her ass at Regina’s face, and Regina is laughing too hard to swat her away.

***

She doesn’t remember when it started, but she finds herself now hugging Emma every time they say hello when they come into work. God forbid if she ever thought of doing the same to Cora. But, although she doesn’t know why, the day doesn’t feel right without Emma’s daily dose of hug. And if it’s a few more minutes than what constitutes as a regular hug, she doesn’t mind it at all.

The dreams don’t start until their second year of working together. With some construction going on, they had Emma’s department moved to the same floor as Regina’s, and now, instead of walking across the campus to see her, Emma is right across from her. Her first dream included her and Emma cuddling in Emma’s office, only after having the woman kissing her against the wall for most of it. She could barely look at Emma that day, and it didn’t help that the blonde noticed Regina avoiding her and kept asking her what was going on.

Regina decided it was probably because they kept texting each other last night, and she forgot about the whole thing. Until two days after, when she dreamt of the blonde again. And it continued, each week a dream featuring the blonde, doing things that have her waking up breathless, sweating, and unashamedly with her hand between her legs. Barking at the woman during work doesn’t help; neither does avoiding her. It’s not like the blonde lets her be, as she always notices and badgers Regina till she gives up the pretense. (And honestly, she didn’t like it when she isn’t able to talk to the blonde, and if she starts to realize she craves her attention… Well. At least their offices are next to each other for her to have her daily intake of the blonde.)

***

“Is this Mills’ office?” a man asks from the door. Regina looks up, confused to see someone not from the office. Or at least with a name tag. Something niggles at the back of her head at how frustrated he seems, as if he’s holding back something.

“Yes, can I help you?” She eyes Cora’s office. Her mother is at a meeting in a different department and didn’t mention that she was waiting for someone to pass by. Customers don’t come to Cora’s office, at all. They are usually guided to the one of the conference rooms if they ever come to the company.

He takes a few steps into the office, then says quietly, “I want to know where my money is going.”

“Excuse me?” Regina replies, trying to keep her voice clear as she feels her anxiety rising. Emma’s eyes are glued to the computer screen, but she suddenly looks up when Regina says that. She doubts the blonde can hear what is being said, but apparently even from her spot, Emma can sense her nervousness.

“You guys made promises for the charity, yet not everyone is receiving their money. My wife didn’t. I need to know where it’s going.” The man finally breaks, eyes desperate as he leans over her desk.

“Excuse me, but I need you to leave my office, we can go and chat –” She starts to rise from her seat, but he slams her desk, his other hand reaching for his jacket.

“No! You’re the boss of this crap, I need you to fix this.” He is holding something in his arm, and she thinks of Henry.

“Please -” Suddenly he’s bent over, and Emma is holding a gun to his back.

“Drop your weapon,” Emma growls at the guy, and he whimpers as she pushes him harder onto the desk until he does. It turns out to be a manila folder addressed to her mother. Inside is just papers. 

Regina tries to formulate a sentence, but all she sees is that Emma has a gun, and Emma is not looking at her.

***

“I’m an undercover agent, investigating the company for fraud. Numerous reports indicate that money is being laundered into the company, then diverted somewhere else,” the blonde tells her. They’re sitting in her car, the man long gone. Emma has brought her a bottle of water, and she holds it limply in her hands as Emma talks. “I was situated to be in close contact with the headquarters, yet somewhere insignificant to not raise suspicions. The first few weeks, everything checked out. Only when I started to look closely at those files in my office did something blip on the radar.”

“Why are you telling me all this?” Regina can feel herself ask. She was somewhere in the clouds, somewhere where Emma was still Emma, and bringing her coffee as they teased Ruby.

The blonde reaches over to place the gun back into the car cabinet, then closes it and sighs heavily.

“You weren’t supposed to be targeted,” she says into her hands, clearing her throat as she rubs at her eyes.

“He had my mother’s name on the envelope,” Regina replies. She is surprised her voice was normal at all.

“Yes.”

“Are you investigating my mother?”

“Yes.”

“But you were her favorite student.” _You were my friend._ She squeezes the water bottle, wondering if her mother even knew.

“They thought it would make me fit better into the workplace.” And she feels an idiot for ever thinking that she actually knew Emma. She barely recognizes the blonde sitting besides her. 

“What now?”

“I need you to not say anything. Up to now, you’re not being investigated. I just need to find where they’re siphoning the money to and I’ll be out of your hair.” Her voice breaks at the end, and she gazes at Regina with a sad smile and tired eyes.

She thinks of the spam emails.

“There is something.”

***

It takes Emma two weeks to trace the links in the emails and capture Cora in a comprising situation with it. They take Regina in along with several others for questioning. No matter how much they try to pin stuff on Regina, Emma backs her up and keeps saying that Regina is innocent. Not once does Emma look her way throughout the investigation at the police station.

Cora’s only request is that the FBI doesn’t bring the whole company into under interrogation, if they want her to coordinate with them. They don’t give in at first, wanting to have the company under open investigation. But Cora is relentless that the company’s staff are not fired or taken into the court. Seeing as she isn’t going to help unless they agree, they add it as part of the deal.

Three days after Cora is removed from the company, Emma leaves without a notice, taking Ruby along with her. Ruby turns out to be Emma’s partner in the investigation (_of course. She wonders how many times a heart can be stabbed_). Henry stops bringing up Emma, sensing there is something wrong but unable to handle seeing his mom so broken when he asks about her coworker.

Regina takes over as the head of the company and is lost as to what to do now. She wonders how many families their charity promised to help, but those ended up being empty promises. She wonders if there were others who were desperate like the man who approached her, and whether she can fix this. She wonders if there were others in the company who were part of her mother’s laundering schemes, and if that is why she didn’t want the company to be investigated.

She doesn’t think of how Emma’s office is empty now, how the blonde is nowhere to be seen, or how she finds herself crying over someone who wasn’t ever real to begin with. It was ridiculous, how much she cries over a _friend_. She hasn’t cried, not since Daniel died, and yet finds tears running down her face at the realization that she won’t see Emma every day at the office. Oh, she knows exactly where the woman is (and was surprised that the blonde actually used her real name while undercover here). But the thought that she won’t hug Emma each morning, that all their talks, any attention the woman paid towards her, was only for the sake of the investigation-

She throws a vase at the mirror, hating how she looks at this point. The last sticky note Emma left her had a smiley face on it: “Office Mates for life”. The week before everything went to shit. She should have known better. 

**Author's Note:**

> So.... :)  
Up to now, there is no sequel. But if there is interest, I'll continue it to let Regina and Emma meet again and fix this mess lol.


End file.
